Let There be Science

Recommended & in the Knox Library: “Let There be Science” by David Hutchings and Tom McLeish

Why is it that science has consistently thrived wherever the Christian faith can be found? Why is it that so many great scientists—past and present—attribute their motivation and their discoveries, at least partially, to their Christian beliefs? Why are the age-old writings of the Bible so full of questions about natural phenomena? And, perhaps most importantly of all, why is all this virtually unknown to the general public? Too often, it would seem, science has been presented to the outside world as a robotic, detached, unemotional enterprise. Too often, Christianity is dismissed as being an ancient superstition. In reality, neither is the case. Science is a deeply human activity, and Christianity is deeply reasonable. Perhaps this is why, from ancient times right up to today, many individuals have been profoundly committed to both—and have helped us to understand more and more about the extraordinary world that we live in. As authors Tom McLeish and David Hutchings examine the story of science, and look at the part that Christianity has played, they uncover a powerful underlying reason for doing science in the first place. In example after example, ranging from 4000 BC to the present day, they show that thinking with a Christian worldview has been intimately involved with, and sometimes even directly responsible for, some of the biggest leaps forward ever made. Ultimately, they portray a biblical God who loves Science—and a Science that truly needs God.

“An unexpected interlacing of fascinating science stories with an even larger framework of Biblical understanding. A really thoughtful and wide-ranging encounter.” —Owen Gingerich, author, God’s Planet, professor emeritus of Astronomy and History of Science, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics